Mediagazer: Want to save local newspapers? Then break the chains that hold them back (Robert Niles/Online Journalism Review)

12:25 AM ET, June 28, 2012

Top News:

News Corp. Board Approves Split in Principle — News Corp.'s board approved a plan to split the media conglomerate in two pieces, separating its lucrative entertainment operations from its publishing business, said a person familiar with the situation. — The board made the decision …

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, paidContent, Crikey, business.time.com, The Wrap, Deal Journal Australia, Deadline.com, DealBook and Reuters

Lucia Moses / Adweek:

What a News Corp. Split Could Mean for Editorial Coverage — Will a News Corp. split have a downside for its entertainment properties? As the media giant mulls splitting off its print business, among the many implications are that its entertainment empire will be further detached from the papers …

Discussion: paidContent, Talking Biz News, The Week, Business Insider and Media Decoder

Felix Salmon:
News Corp loses its news

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, Media & Entertainment, CJR, Capital New York, AdAge, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Guardian

Jim Romenesko:

Patch Local Editor is having fun — From NAME WITHHELD AT HIS REQUEST: I'm a Local Editor at Patch and I've found the job to be, at times, cushier than my previous newsroom job at a paper. The compensation is better, benefits better and the job is flat-out more fun, so sometimes I don't mind if my day runs a bit longer.

Jim Romenesko: Patch staffers on advertorials, inflated numbers and more

Robert Niles / Online Journalism Review:

Want to save local newspapers? Then break the chains that hold them back — The economies of scale that once helped place the journalism business among the economy's most profitable now threaten to help sink the industry. America's newspaper chains missed their moment of opportunity …

Discussion: stdout.be

Steve Myers / Poynter:
2011 busiest year for newspaper ownership changes since 2007

Discussion: Winston-Salem Journal and Journalism.org

David Benoit / Deal Journal:
Investors See Some Value in Newspaper Companies

Discussion: GigaOM, Los Angeles Times, Noted, Gannett Blog, Poynter, paidContent, Guardian and CJR

Christine Haughney / Media Decoder:

The Times Is Introducing a Chinese-Language News Site — The New York Times is introducing a Chinese-language Web site, part of a continuing effort to expand its reach to international readers. — The site, which is called cn.nytimes.com and will go live Thursday morning …

Discussion: Business Insider, Forbes, TechCrunch, FishbowlNY and paidContent

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
NYTimes: All The News That's Fit To Post (And Tweet) In China? Chinese Site, Weibo Account Spotted

Discussion: Tech in Asia and Capital New York

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

Curry Set to Announce Departure From ‘Today’ — Ann Curry is likely to announce her departure from NBC's “Today” show on television on Thursday morning, people with close ties to the network said on Wednesday evening. — The announcement would cap weeks of private negotiations between …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Wrap, Multichannel, Hollywood Reporter and TMZ.com

Cindy Adams / New York Post:
‘Today’ to lose Natalie too?

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Digital Spy, Chickaboomer and Media Decoder

Dylan Byers / Politico:

WashPost will not retract ‘outsourcing’ story — The Washington Post will not redact their June 21 report about Bain Capital's investments in firms that specialized in outsourcing American jobs, POLITICO has learned. — “We are very confident in our reporting,” Washington Post spokesperson …

Discussion: Mediaite

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Romney to seek Washington Post retraction

Discussion: Mediaite, ABCNEWS, Guardian and CBS News

Charles McGrath / New York Times:

Nora Ephron, Wry Woman of Letters, Is Dead at 71 — Nora Ephron, an essayist and humorist in the Dorothy Parker mold (only smarter and funnier, some said) who became one of her era's most successful screenwriters and filmmakers, making romantic comedy hits like “Sleepless in Seattle” and …

Michael Massing / CJR:

The two David Carrs — Since joining The New York Times in 2002, David Carr has become America's most visible and influential writer on the media. His weekly “Media Equation” column is closely followed by people in the industry. Last year, he was featured in Interview magazine …

Anna Heim / The Next Web: The Huffington Post partners with Ustream to beef up its live news coverage

Kat Stoeffel / The New York Observer:

Deadliest Klatsch: Nick Denton Gives Gawker's Drive-By Peanut Gallery a Promotion — Journalists, commenters ... what's the diff? — “When someone comes into your house and throws s**t around, you get pissed,” Anna Holmes told The Observer. She was speaking in metaphor …

Discussion: FishbowlNY, The Corsair, kottke.org, Poynter and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Adrienne LaFrance / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Five things The New York Times learned from its three-year hyperlocal experiment — With yesterday's news that The New York Times is ending its affiliation with The Local — a pair of hyperlocal blogs that the newspaper launched three years ago — an experiment came to a close.

Discussion: Poynter and New York Times

Jeremy Greenfield / Forbes:

What Publishing Companies Do in a World Where Anyone Can Publish a Book — If an author can go to Kindle Direct Publishing or Barnes & Noble's PubIt!, instantly publish their own book and then collect up to 70% of the sale price as a royalty as opposed to the 15% to 25% that many traditional publishers offer …